Key England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff on Friday headed home for treatment on his injured hip, desperately attempting to ease fears over his fitness for the Ashes.

Flintoff, who was injured in the drawn third Test against the West Indies and has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test series, hopes to return to the Caribbean for the ODIs next month.

But it's his fitness ahead of the Ashes which is causing concern with many in the English game wishing he would skip the lucrative Indian Premier League to rest up for the challenge against the Australians.

"It seems everyone is going on about the IPL - it's a hot topic," said Flintoff, who is due to play for the Chennai Super Kings in India for three weeks in April.

"I want to play for England in this ODI series. The IPL is still a few weeks away, and it will take care of itself.

"Playing for England is the ultimate and that's what I want to do. I have missed a lot of cricket over the last few years. I obviously want to play as much as I can especially for England.

"I have played in the Ashes before and I know the euphoria that comes from playing in it, so I am not going to do anything that jeopardises it."

Flintoff added that returning home to continue his rehabilitation was an easy decision for him to make.

"Going back home, I can get intensive treatment, and I will work with the guys that I have worked with in the past, so that I can get back fit as quick as I can," said the 31-year-old.

"This is the best decision I think for me at the moment. I know what I have to do to get fit."

"Also, it's hard being on the sidelines around a Test match. You desperately want to play. You are a little bit flat because of it. There are people in the dressing room and you do not know where to put yourself, and everyone you bump into is asking about your injury."

Flintoff and England's team management hope that he will be fit in time to return to the Caribbean for the Twenty20 International and five One-day Internationals that follow the Test series.

"I am more confident than I was last week," he said. "The injury has settled down, after I had a few days of rest.

"The past two days I have been in the gym doing exercises, and it has responded really well. I am confident of returning for the five ODIs and that is what I am hoping to do."

The hip problem has kept Flintoff out of the fourth Test, which got underway in Barbados on Thursday, and he will also miss the fifth and final Test in Trinidad as well.

He will continue his rehabilitation in England and is scheduled to join up again with the squad, fitness permitting, on March 10.

"We feel as though his rehabilitation would be best served by him going back home," said Hugh Morris, managing director of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

"It is something we have done with Andrew before when he was recovering from his ankle injury.

"Being around the England team environment can be something of a goldfish bowl and by returning home he can concentrate on receiving some intensive treatment."